Here you go, sir.　Meryl's special honey water barley!

　Meryl, the daughter of the owner of the Seseragi-tei where Aldis stays regularly, brings the food to the table where Aldis and the others are sitting.

Kirill, don't stop eating!　It's your sister's treat today!

Oh, thank you.

　With a slightly drawn-out smile, Kirill thanks me.

　He doesn't say it out loud, but I'm sure he's nodding inwardly, "How did this happen ......".




　After leaving the sorcerer's shop, Aldis and Kirill both settled into the dining room on the first floor of the Sesame Street restaurant to enjoy a hot meal for the first time in a long time.
　When they approached Meryl to order there, she became interested in Aldis' association.

''Huh?　Are you from the City State Alliance?　So little, all by yourself?

　When he found out that Kirill had come to the royal capital alone, Merrill expressed his surprise by saying so.

　Moreover, perhaps because she was tickled by Kirill's appearance, or perhaps because she felt a sense of affinity with him because of the similarity in their names, she began to blatantly favor him over the other customers.
　At the end of the day, she threw away her position as the owner's daughter and offered him a free meal.

　That's all well and good for Kirill, but the problem is that all the food on the menu was specially made by Merrill.

　The daughter of Seseragi-tei, Meryl, is not only the daughter of the restaurant's founder, but also has a disgraceful reputation as a "challenger of taste," "natural enemy of ingredients" and "a direct flight to the toilet" and has a poor sense of cooking.

　"Only those who have never tasted Meryl's home-cooked food would be pleased to be treated to her home-cooked food.

　The first time I took a bite of the food I was served, I almost turned my back on it.

　Kirill took the first bite of the food that was served to him and almost looked around at the badness.
　But if you think of Meryl, who buys you a meal out of the goodness of her heart, and if you look at Aldis, who continues to eat the same food without a care in the world, there is no way you can say anything.

　He is eating Meryl's work of art (a doorway to the unknown), which is offered to him in silence, with tears in his eyes.

The first time I've heard of ......, it's called 'honey water barley'. Is there a type of barley called 'honey water barley'?

　Meryl answers Kirill's question with her heart.

'It's not that. The wheat is just regular wheat, but I've made some changes to the way it's prepared to explore new tastes.'

You know how to cook?

'Yes. Grind the wheat and the potatoes to a coarse powder and let them soak in water for a while. Mix them together with a drizzle of honey and then remove the topping from the water to taste.

......

　Kirill had no words to return.

'Oh, yes. Aldis, Jan, who plays the face, has been looking for you since yesterday?　They have some business to ask you to do.

'Yeah, I hear ya. I'm going to go talk to him tomorrow.

I'm glad. Jean-san seemed to be in a lot of trouble. So, Kirill, if you want a refill, feel free to ask.

　With that, Meryl walked away to the other table.

　Kirill had no choice but to pick up the spoon and fearfully scoop out the sludgy liquid that spread in the bowl and put it in his mouth.
　It clings to his teeth and mouth as a necho necho, a strange texture that almost takes all the moisture in his mouth despite the paste-like consistency. The sweetness brought by the honey adds to the discomfort.

　It's bad.

　Kirill exclaimed in his mind.

　The combination of wheat, potatoes, and honey shouldn't be bad.
　But is the cooking method bad, or is the skill of the person who cooked it hopelessly awful? The finished product was endlessly far from delicious.

　Forcing himself to swallow while struggling to hold back the urge to vomit, Kirill turned his attention to the front seat across the table.
　There was Aldis, who continued to eat with an unconcerned face.

''Mr. Aldis,''

What?

　Kirill asks after a subtle silence.

'Is ............ good?'

　Aldis, who had been mechanically bringing the spoon to his mouth, stopped moving.

'............ edible,'

Yes, that's right: ......

　Kirill agrees with Aldis' straightforward answer.
　Because Aldis is right, at least this is food.

　Coming from an orphanage, Kirill doesn't have a penchant for food.
　It wasn't just Kirill, but all the children in the orphanage.

　No child in the orphanage would ever hope to have a 'full meal' in the first place, and no child would ever say what they like or dislike about food.
　So Kirill doesn't think he should complain about the food, as long as he can get enough.
　And moreover, his companion is eating in front of him without a care in the world. He couldn't be the only one to complain weakly.

　After a brief exchange with Ardis, Kirill was teary-eyed because of how bad it was, but he silently ate his food in silence.

'Hey, look. There's a guy eating Meryl-chan's food.''

'What?　Aldis, right?

No. Ardis is one, but there's another one eating it.

'Oh my God, ......?　He's eating Meryl's food: ......

You're kidding. That kid is about the same age as my kid. If my kid eats Meryl's food, he's either going to start crying or he's going to go ballistic, I think.

Do you think I'll let my son have one of those?

No, no, no, no, no. That's too hard for a child to take on. Look at that. That boy's in tears too.

'Still, you've got good guts for a kid. That's what I call Aldis's companion.

'Like begets like', eh?

　From the seats here and there, you can hear voices saying whatever you want.

　However, Kirill, who is desperate to eradicate his nemesis in front of him, has no time to pay attention to such voices.
　He simply moved the spoon incessantly and poured the object created by Merrill's good intentions and magical modifications into his stomach.